"Rockies All-Star shortstop Troy Tulowitzki said his left thigh felt the same Sunday as it did Saturday night, when he suffered a cramp in the fourth inning and had to leave the 3-2 loss to the Pirates. And the news wasn't much better when manager Walt Weiss ran down his injury list Sunday, before the Rockies' attempt to avoid being swept by the Pirates.

"Tulowitzki's replacement Sunday, Josh Rutledge, filled in with a two-run homer off Pittsburgh's Jeff Locke in the top of the first.

"Tulowitzki, who led the Majors with a .340 batting average entering Sunday, was on the lineup card as a possible pinch-hitter, but Weiss didn't see him as an option.

"'He's sore,' Weiss said. 'I still consider him day to day, but he's sore. It could be a couple or three days. We'll monitor it and just check in with him hourly, but I'm expecting it to be another day or two.'

"First baseman Justin Morneau missed his third straight day with neck stiffness, and Weiss admitted he's worried 'a little bit. He's made some improvement but still not enough to be out there. Anytime a guy is not able to play in two, three, four days, you start to get concerned.'

"There was -- surprise -- good news. All-Star outfielder Charlie Blackmon turned his left ankle in a scary fashion Saturday night when he lined into a double play to end the 11th inning. X-rays were clean, and Blackmon wasn't limping on Sunday.

"'Charlie surprised me when he showed up this morning,' Weiss said. 'I thought he was going to be hurt. I saw a replay, and I also saw a snapshot when he rolled his ankle. It was really ugly.

"'He's mad at me because he isn't in the lineup. But I actually made the lineup before he got here and knew he'd be available. He is available and Charlie wants to be there. He's fought hard to be an everyday player, and those guys want to be out there all the time.'"

ESPN New York's Johnette Howard wrote on July 17 that Tulowtizki would be a good replacement for retiring New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter:

"The daydreaming about Colorado Rockies All-Star shortstop Troy Tulowitzki someday replacing Derek Jeter in the New York Yankees' lineup didnt' just start when they both pulled into Minneapolis for this week's All-Star Game, and reporters revived the stories about how Tulowitzki grew up idolizing Jeter, or how he wears No. 2 in honor of him.

"Tulowitzki started directly addressing the speculation way back in spring training because the Yankees are going to have two vacancies -- at shortstop, and as the face of the franchise -- when Jeter retires after this season.

"Now, the best reason to still consider the possibility that Tulowitzki, the best all-around shortstop in the game, could end up in New York isn't just that he already fills those roles for Colorado. Or the Yankees could absorb the seven years left on his $157.5 million contract that runs through the 2020 season, with a club option for 2021.

"The reason to pay attention to the Tulowitzki talk is Tulowitzki himself doesn't dismiss it.

"Doesn't matter if it's a on a sleepy day at spring training, or at media day at the All-Star Game on Monday -- one of the biggest stages in the game, besides the World Series -- as he was speaking for about an hour to wave after wave of reporters. He also has broad power to veto where the Rockies might want to send him. And that's a factor in where he might land, too.

"Tulowitzki could demur every time and blandly say it's unseemly for him to keep directly addressing replacing Jeter. After all, he's the undisputed face of the Rockies' franchise now that Todd Helton has retired after 17 seasons (but not a single division title) with the Rockies.

"He just made the All-Star Game for the fourth time in his seven-year career, but the team is floundering again. During one miserable stretch this season, Colorado lost 28 of 38 games. The Rockies haven't made the playoffs since 2009. The only other time Tulowitzki has even been in the postseason was 2007, his sensational rookie year, when the Rockies got hot late and ran all the way to the World Series before losing to the Red Sox.

"And yet, despite -- or perhaps because of -- having all that going on, the 29-year-old Tulowitzki doesn't shut down the Yankees' trade talk."

Tulowitzki is in his ninth MLB season. He has amassed 1,068 hits, 176 home runs and 604 RBIs on a career .299 batting average in 961 regular-season games through July 21, per ESPN stats.